Fastrack Archives March 2011

submitted by: admin on 08/14/2018

Here you will find all the Prescriptions for Health Fastrack Radio Shows for March 2011. March 2011 marks the end of an era for Dr. Len and Nurse Vicki, as these are the last shows produced at KEST Radio in San Francisco. Beginning April 1, 2011 all shows will be exclusive to DoctorSaputo.com. You don't need to becomse member to listen in, but becoming a member of DoctorSaputo.com has many benefits.

Tuesday March 1, 2011

Adverse Drug Reactions in the ER

Adverse reactions to drugs are not only hard to diagnose, but are costly as well. It is estimated that it is costing 50 million dollars a year in the emergeny department alone. These events increase the risk of hospitalization by 50% and 70% of these adverse drug reaction incidents are preventable.

How do you know if the doctor that is doing your elective surgery doing what is best for you? If you were to go to another region, would you find the doctors there would use another method? If you have breast cancer, how do you know whether you need a mastectomy or a lumpectomy? Dr. Len and Nurse Vicki discuss what you can do to make sure your surgery is in your best interest and not the best interest of the doctor.

A new survey of orthopedics surgeons showed roughly a third of the imaging tests they ordered, such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, are meant to protect them from lawsuits rather than for the benefit of the patient. Defensive medicine, where physicians order diagnostic tests of little benefit largely to protect themselves from lawsuits, are up as high as 93 %.

Lately there have been reports about the bisphosphonates used to treat osteoporosis, are causing fractures of the femur and other bones in the body. The drugs most commonly prescribed are Actonel, Fosamax, Reclast, and Boniva to name a few. These drugs are powerful and cause dramatic changes in bone physiology. It may be true that these drugs may cause bone fractures, but in reality this side effect is rare. It is the other side effects of these drugs that are much more dangerous, especially osteonecrosis of the jaw.

The prevention of disease means decreasing our Electro Magnetic Field. Electro Magnetic pollution should be a concern for everybody. Just what effect does EMF have on our bodies? Does using a cell phone increase our risk of brain cancer?

Can People become addicted to Diet Soda? While controversial, research has shown that some people can become addicted to diet soda. Using fMRI's, scientists can see that the aspartame affects the pleasure centers of the brain, much like sugar does. Some people will actually "chain drink" diet soda and can go through withdrawals when they stop drinking it. Clinical trials are needed to determine just how addicting diet soda may be.

It is well known that salt can cause increase your blood pressure. Recent research has shown that beverages containing sugar, such as soda and fruit juice, can also increase your blood pressure. The worse thing a person can do is to combine the two; such as "enjoying" a bag of chips and a soda with your lunch. This can double your risk of developing high blood pressure. This can be even more dangerous for those with a family history of high blood pressure or who already have it.

Can advertising in medical journals affect what pharmaceutal drugs are recommended? Research has shown that journals that are supported through advertising are more likely to support a new drug. Journals that get most of their income from subscriptions are more likely to publish articles and reports against a new drug.

There seems to be a conflict between the Democrats, the Replicans and the States as to whether we can afford to expand Medicaid. People believe that the Republicans think is costs too much and that the Democrats believe that we can save on fraudulent and unneecessary costs. Dr. Len thinks they are both wrong. How can our government say we can't afford to expand Medicaid and yet give TRILLIONS of dollars to bailout businesses and banks, as well as give billions of dollars to other countries?

Two-thirds of Americans are over weight. Many of those are obese or morbidly (over 100 pound over weight) obese. It is well documented that obesity causes a number of chronic diseases, and even death. The medical costs due to obesity is enormous. Many people use food as a way of coping, including children. It is not uncommon for an abused child to turn to food and become obese. Studies have shown that MDs can be successful in helping patients with further weight gain. The problem is getting the patients to sustain the weight loss.

Many older patients, who take an average of seven medications a day, get confused by the vague instructions on the prescription bottles and they don’t take their medicines properly. Even well educated people may have some low “health literacy skills.” Patients often think they aren’t supposed to take their medications at the same time. If your prescription bottle tells you “Take one pill 4 times a day, does that mean take one pill every six hours, or take it 4 times during the hours you are awake? What about taking different medications at the same time? Can it be dangerous? Dr. Len and Nurse Vicki discuss just how and when medication should be taken.

"Does every body need milk?" Despite concerns over saturated fats in dairy products such as milk and cheese in your diet, dairy products might not have as much affect on your health as you think according to some Dutch researchers. They found that there is no relationship between men’s dairy intake and risk of dying. Women with a high intake of dairy fat, however, showed a link with small a small increase in death, particularly from heart disease. Eating full fat dairy products such as yogurt and sour cream was tied to a slight decrease of death in both men and women.This is more "food for thought!"

Hospitals that spend the most on their very sickest patients don’t always see a benefit from the extra money spending and researchers found that some hospitals spent less than others and yet they saved more patients. It is unclear why some hospitals do better than others and spending more money doesn’t always improve care or save lives. Different kinds of care, different standards of care and practitioners can all effect hospital costs.

It looks like there is a trend in breast cancer and now lung cancer of not removing the lymph nodes, so when should lymph nodes be removed, or should they be removed? What doctors are trying to do a lot of the time with cancer, is make an assessment of how extensive the cancer is, how far it has spread, and then based on that, they try to pick the treatments that are the most realistic. Surgeons would often take out the lymph nodes to determine if the cancer has spread. Doctors have now decided that this is unnecessary if the tumors are small, especially in the lungs.

Post menopausal women who smoke or used to smoke have a 16% higher risk of developing breast cancer and there is a study that also says that women who have had extensive exposure to passive smoking, either as a child or as an adult, may also have an excess risk of developing breast cancer. There are many more things that can also increase your risk, such as drinking alcoholic beverages, estrogen, drinking non-organic milk, and being low in Vitamin D. Combine these things together and a woman is at an extremely high risk of developing breast cancer. Just living a healthy lifestyle will eliminate most of these risk factors.

A recent article reviewing the state of US health care comes to the conclusion that “we are in a sorry state.” They say the solution is developing a better system where we work together with powerful organizations such as insurance companies, HMOs, the corporate for-profit hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies and maybe lower the cost of health care.

In order to validate research, it is necessary to look into who is funding the research as well as who is doing it. When a pharmaceutical company funds a research project, they want to make that drug look like a new wonder drug and they their primary concern is not whether it is effective or that it has side effects. They have very limited ethics. They are looking for profits. Even with a meta-analysis (the compilation of many studies), often all of the studies used for the meta-analysis have been funded by Big Pharma. Often there is conflicting research. Absolute numbers are often changed to percentages which then affect the interpretation of the study. Medical Journals funded by Big Pharma have a conflict of interest that tends to favor not publishing articles against a new drug and possibly risk losing the income that keeps the journal going.

Lupus erythematosis is a chronic auto-immune disease that affects millions of people. Scientists are not exactly sure if lupus is a genetic disease, environmental, or related to lifestyle. Lupus can also be drug induced. It can be very debilitating and can affect joints, blood cells, skin, as well as organs such as the kidneys, heart and lungs. Lupus is usually treated with anti-inflammatory drugs and/or steroids. Now there is a new treatment. This new drug is given IV and costs $3000 per treatment. Is this new medicine really worth the money or is it just another Big Pharma ploy to make money?

Research continues to show just how important it is for pregnant women to eat a healthy diet and live a healthy lifestyle. An article in the journal "Brain Research" states: Nutritionally deprived newborns and fetuses have less neurons in the region of the brain that controls food intake. Because of the lack of neurons these babies are programmed for overeating at the stem cell even before birth. This need to overeat, which is do to a physical problem, can continue into adulthood and cause obesity.

Most Americans only get between 6 to 7 hours of sleep a night. People really need 7 to 8 hours of sleep and teenagers need even more. In a recent survey 95% of the people surveyed used some type of electronic device such as televisions, computers, or video game an hour before going to bed most nights during the week. This can affect sleep because the artificial light emitted can actually inhibit the release of melatonin and disrupts the sleep onset process. Removing computers, televisions, and other electronic devices out of the bedroom would be a good idea. Finding other ways to wind down at the end of the day could make a big difference in falling asleep easier. Americans are so busy that they have a hard time falling asleep. Taking a look at what changes you can make in your life can have a great affect on how well you sleep. Dr. Len and Vicki have some good tips to help you fall asleep.

Scientists have found thirteen new gene variants that can increase a person's chance of developing heart disease. One of the benefits would be the ability to identify people carrying this gene and neutralize the excess risk. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardio vascular disease, one of the largest killers in the world. Dr. Len and Nurse Vicki discuss just what this new information means

There has been a debate for many years over whether needle breast biopsies are safer than surgical biopsies. Many people believe needle biopsies are less invasive and surgery is not really necessary and just another way for surgeons to make more money. Needle biopsies a far less expensive and can be done by a radiologist. There was a medical article published in 2004 that stated that doing a needle biopsy can cause cancer cells to break loose and then be carried throughout the bodyand could then settle on the lymph nodes. This was later proven to be inaccurate. There is much more risk with surgery. Besides being an invasive procedure, surgery puts you at risk for infection and can take you much longer to heal.

Dr. Jaffe is the founder and President of PERQUE LLC, a quality-driven professional nutrition company. In the past he has been an official at the National Institutes of Health and Clinical Center in Bethesda, the US Public Health Service, and on the editorial board of The New Physician. For the past four years he has been selected as one of America's Top Physicians, and selected as International Scientist of the Year in 2003 at Oxford. He has published extensively and is regarded as an expert in the areas of clinical and nutritional immunology, toxic minerals, hormones, and chemical disruptors, and autoimmune disease.

Monday March 21, 2011

What You Need to Know About Radiation Exposure Part 1

The radiation disaster in Japan is a serous problem in Japan, but not in the US yet. The levels of exposure up to this point have been diluted sufficiently that it is only a minor issue for those of us who live on the west coast. The best treatment is the use of antioxidants to combat the ionizing radiation such as natural vitamin E, selenomethionine, vitamin C, silymarin, beta carotene, and co-enzyme Q10. It is the lack of antioxidants that leads to radiation damage

For the short term iodine can be very helpful to prevent the uptake of iodine 131. Using iodine for more than two weeks can have problems. Using mixed antioxidants is the best defense against all ionizing radiation. Iodine can induce both hypothyoidism and hyperthyroidism. If you're going to use iodine for more than two weeks it may be helpful to supplement with a grain of thyroid extract a day

Any crisis offers the opportunity to learn and Japan's experience with radiation is not an exception. They already are doing a lot that is part of the reason why they already live 8 years longer than we in the US. They have a detoxification diet that is part of their routine lifestyle that includes sea vegetables and foods high in sulfur. In particular they consume ginger, brassica sprouts, garlic, onions, and eggs. Detox baths that include baking soda, epsom salts, and vitamin C are another powerful approach that supports wellness. "Fruits and veggies, seeds and nuts, herbs and spices and have a nice day" as our friend Ed Bauman coined, is an excellent lifestyle we should practice.

Vicki was dying from a serious allergic condition called primary anaphylaxis. Mainstream medical treatment was complicated and had many side effects. She eventually took a test called the ELISA/ACT Test that identified 41 allergies and made it possible to avoid them and eventually fully recover. Many of her allergies were to healthy foods, but the bulk of them were environmental toxins. It is worth the effort to do your own organic gardening and to avoid environmental toxins.

Hypertension is a physical adaptation to resistance to flow. When our blood vessels are too narrow for a variety of reasons the pressure we need to sustain perfusion is high. Some of these mechanisms such as stress, kidney hormonal factors that are out of balance, blood that is too thick, mineral imbalances, oxidative stress, and idiopathic. There's a balance between stress and relaxation that has much to do with how we go through life. How we breathe is linked to our mindfulness and both are powerful aspects of our adaptation to life. The role of exercise, diet, sleep, weight, and stress are discussed.

There are many ways to treat hypertension. In the mainstream we tend to rely on medication to manage elevated bood pressure. By the time we reach 80 years old, 95% of people have elevated blood pressure. Natural approaches include fish oil, magnesium, exercise, relaxation, weight loss and more, and should also be used first. Yet there are still factors that are related to the underlying cause that often includes stress. Stay mindful and in the moment, don't worry be happy, stay non attached and you'll be more able to maintain a normal blood pressure.

Our cells produce more acid than alkaline buffer. It is partly because of what we eat, but it is inherent in our metabolism. The body is acidic by nature and alkaline by design. Our mineral reserves are deep, but over years we become depleted and suffer from many diseases. Only one brand of pH paper that is reliable. The first morning urine or after 6 hours of rest is the only specimen that works. Saliva is not reliable. For every year of poor diet it takes one month to repair with a good diet and proper supplementation. Whole foods, not food products, are far less expensive and more healthy.

Practicing the alkaline way begins with eating whole foods that contribute minerals that buffer, healthy fats, and alkaline amino acids that exist around the periphery of the grocery store. This means including fresh fruits and veggies, lentils and beans and pulses, healthy seeds and nuts, sprouts and herbs, and natural whole foods. We don't want foods that are packaged. Eat whole, vine ripened, local, fresh food you'll be eating healthy foods. Phosphoric acid is a major contributor to the epidemic of mineral deficiencies. Protein foods should be a condiment on your plate. Eighty percent of foods should be alkaline; the other 20 percent can be acid forming foods. When you upset this balance illness is the result. Our diet was much healthier 100 years ago and we were healthier in our senior years than today.

Chronic disease, degenerative or autoimmune disease we talk about repair deficiency and inflammation. We measure inflammatory factors to determine how much disease is present. If cholesterol is healthy and not oxidized it is good; we need it to make hormones, vitamin D, and cell membranes. We need to measure oxidized forms of cholesterol and other fats. It is critical to remove biochemical stresses and actively support wellness. It would be wonderful if the National Institutes of Health and the main forces of medicine would evolve and focus on prevention. Choose sustainability for sustained remissions.

Inflammation is the final common pathway of illness. Inflammation is a repair deficit problem that must be dealt with if we're going to repair the physiology that leads to cellular dysfunction and disease. Proactive prevention through the alkaline way is a cornerstone of wellness. Homeostasis is about living in balance and harmony with nature. Rediscovering and reconnecting with nature is the pathway to recovery.

This archive is a work in progress. At the end of every week, the most recent editions of Prescriptions for Health, Fastrack edition, will be posted on the DoctorSaputo.com Radio page. Shows from the previous week are then archived. There can be as many as 40 shows archived for a month.